View full sizeRoss William Hamilton, The OregonianFans react after Brandon Roy leads the Blazers to a come-back win in Game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoffs against Dallas last season. The Blazers fear such performances will be the exception, not the rule, because of his deteriorating knees.

Brandon Roy has a simple question he wants the Trail Blazers to answer: Do you want me or not?

Blazers president Larry Miller has a not-so-simple answer for Roy: Maybe. And that maybe is if, and only if, Roy can convince the team he is willing to accept a reduced role and be a good teammate. And even then, the answer is still maybe.

For Miller, the question of whether to use the NBA's recently added "amnesty clause" on Roy has little to do with basketball. And it has little to do with money. He is convinced Roy's cartilage-less knees are beyond repair and will never allow him to consistently play like the three-time All-Star we came to know when Roy broke into the league. And he knows that freeing the payroll of Roy's $63 million contract gives the Blazers a better chance at remaining competitive both in the short and long term.

The decision on whether to waive Roy, then, boils down to two things, Miller says: Whether Roy would be a good teammate, and whether cutting him would be a public-relations disaster.

"If Brandon were to accept mentally that 'I'm not that guy anymore, but I will do whatever I can to help the team,' it would make it easier to keep him around," Miller said. "We know every-so-often he is going to give us that game, and be the Brandon Roy of old, but mentally accepting where his game is, that's the bigger challenge for him. I don't know if he is there, or if he can get there."

Up in Seattle, Roy is confused and hurt. After all he has done for this franchise –the game-winning shots, the playing hurt, the countless public-appearances, serving as the guiding light out of the Jail Blazers era – he didn't see it ending like this, his future drifting in the wind. The least he deserves, he figures, is a straight answer from the Blazers, not these reports from "unnamed sources."

"I get it. Brandon gets it," said Greg Lawrence, Roy's agent. "It's not complicated. They are going to make a decision that is best for them. If they want him to be there, he will show up and work hard like he always has and do whatever it takes to help the team win. If they don't want Brandon to be there, he will move on. He just wants to know." Timing is important

A quick decision would benefit everyone involved.

Next Friday, training camp opens. So does free agency. The first preseason games tip off about 10 days later. The season begins Christmas.

For Roy, he wants to know where he will be playing. For the Blazers, their decision on Roy will determine how much money they have to spend in the free agent market. In a nutshell, if they waive Roy, they can sign a free agent for up to $5 million a year for four years. If they don't waive him, they can sign a free agent for up to $3 million a year for three years.

So one factor at play in waiving Roy, Miller conceded, is whether the Blazers can land a player worthy of that $5-million contract – someone like a Carl Landry or Glen Davis.

"The Blazers say they are exploring their options," Lawrence said. "We are hopeful they will make a decision soon. Training camp opens next week and, if he is not going to be in Portland, he has a family to uproot and move."

While the Blazers work the phones and shop the free agent market for big-man help such as Landry, Davis, Chuck Hayes and Joel Przybilla, Miller is hopeful for a one-on-one with Roy to gauge his mind set.

He wants to see if he can accept a reduced role, one behind Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum, one that doesn't put coach Nate McMillan in an awkward spot every game. But truth be told, Miller is also looking for Roy's blessing. If Roy could accept their business decision, and understand it's nothing personal, and help trumpet that thinking to the fan base, it would help all involved.

That's where it gets sticky for Roy and his camp.

Lawrence said the two sides have had plenty of dialogue, during which Roy has repeatedly told the Blazers that he will accept any role the Blazers want him to play.

"Brandon knows and has conveyed to them in numerous conversations that all roles on the team need to be earned, and all he is looking for is an opportunity to earn a role based on his productivity," Lawrence said. "All Brandon wants is to know whether the Blazers want him to be part of the team and in what capacity. At this point, it would be nice to have some closure on the situation and for him to know where he will be playing this year."

Respecting the past

Miller has a tremendous amount of respect, admiration and compassion for Roy. And really, so does everyone in the organization and in the media who covers the team.

Roy is a stand-up guy, a warrior who plays through pain, and he so gracefully and bravely carried this franchise out of those sordid days when the team was defined by players involving in dog-fighting, pot smoking, drag racing and strip-club brawls.

It seems unfair that so early in his career he would be left with knees that no longer have cartilage, causing bone-on-bone grinding with every jump and cut.

That's why this decision is so painful for everyone involved. Roy, the Blazers, and this fan base have been through so much together. Certainly this deserves a better ending.

But as often happens in life, and in sports especially, not everything is fair.

He signed a five-year, $82 million contract in the summer of 2009, all but $5 million of which is guaranteed. Now, putting feelings and the past aside, the contract is an albatross.

If the Blazers waive Roy, it will put them under the luxury tax threshold, likely saving owner Paul Allen more than $25 million in taxes this season. By moving under the tax threshold, the Blazers would be allowed to spend more money in free agency this season. And it will benefit them even further next season when other big contracts like Marcus Camby and Raymond Felton come off the books, perhaps positioning the Blazers as a player in what will be a bumper free agent crop.

So when emotion is taken out of the decision, and basketball and finances are taken into account, the decision is a slam dunk. Roy will probably be a victim of the amnesty clause. The Blazers are likely to waive him.

It's a decision that will hurt Roy, but not cave him. He still gets his money, and the chance to play for another team and prove he still has the Roy magic.

And it's a decision that will hurt Miller, for he fully understands and appreciates the impact and value of Roy's legendary first three seasons, before his knees failed him and rendered him more ordinary than awesome.

All that Roy is asking, is that a decision is made, one way or the other.

"If they do amnesty him, he will be disappointed," Lawrence said. "He really loves being in Portland. He loves the fans and loves his teammates. And for five years he has repeatedly put the organization first while playing through painful injuries. But this is up to them, really. Hopefully, their decision comes sooner than later. Until then, we will wait for that call." --Jason Quick